Comedy review: Lewis Macleod Is Not Himself

Kate Copstick

This is a show with a lot going for it. It has a great venue, it has obviously had a shedload of work put into it and Lewis Macleod is both charming and ludicrously talented.

Star rating: ****

Venue: Frankenstein Pub (Venue 304)

As we get to the end I am astounded that the hour has flown so fast. And then I realise that that is because it has not been an hour. It has been maybe 45 minutes. No padding. Hoorah.

“As himself” Macleod sounds properly Weegie, but he is infrequently himself. Starting with a delightful Pathe News-type film introduction to Scotland, the show never dips. Macleod explains the importance of getting the right voice for a product – you might be surprised at how classy Allied Carpets can sound when their commercial is voiced by Sir Ian McKellen. Or how unpleasant when voiced by Alan Carr. He cascades through commercial voice overs for Audi and Wickes, Cravendale milk and various perfumes (mainly Antonio Banderas for this kind of stuff, apparently).

A show which could just have been a bloke doing voices has been developed with great skill and we get a one- man, many-character sketch set in a Mimics Anonymous meeting, some unexpected insights into Postman Pat and a bedtime story with a cast of A-Listers. A delightful side-effect of Billy Connolly’s reading of Little Red Riding Hood is the opportunity to hear the expression “jobbie wheecha” once more. Pretty much the highlight of my day.